Litigator Eric Halper Joins McKool Smith in New York

NEW YORK – The national law firm of McKool Smith has added Eric B. Halper as senior counsel in the firm’s rapidly growing New York office.

Mr. Halper previously practiced with Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, where he focused on white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement actions, securities and derivative litigation, accounting malpractice and fraud claims, and complex commercial litigation. He also served as a special assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, where he acted as lead prosecutor or co-counsel in felony jury trials.

Mr. Halper, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, earned his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, at Duke University before earning his law degree at Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude.

Prior to entering private practice Mr. Halper completed a federal clerkship in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for the Hon. Charles S. Haight, Jr.

His work on several pro bono activities includes assisting Holocaust survivors in completing applications for benefits under the German Ghetto Work Payment Program, volunteering for the Election Protection effort for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, and representing a defendant in a criminal appeal.

McKool Smith has more than 100 attorneys in Dallas, Austin, Marshall, New York, and Washington DC, handling commercial, intellectual property and white collar litigation for national and international clients. The firm is recognized as one of the premier trial law firms in the United States, having earned significant courtroom victories for clients such as American Airlines, Ericsson, Electronic Data Systems, Medtronic Inc., and Sony Ericsson. McKool Smith is recognized in The National Law Journal for winning more of the Top 100 Verdicts of 2008 than any firm in the nation